Wickham Named to Dubuque County Board of Supervisors

Dubuque County's new supervisor says he's ready to get to work. On Monday, a special selection committee chose Jay Wickham out of 27 initial applicants.

He replaces Supervisor Tom Hancock who died suddenly in January. Hancock ‘s death created the vacancy. Hancock was a long-time Epworth resident, who also served as that town's fire chief and as president of the Iowa Firefighters Association. He had been a Dubuque County supervisor since 2014 after serving in the Iowa Senate.

Last week, a special selection committee consisting of the county auditor, recorder and treasurer interviewed 26 candidates, with one dropping out of the process.

After just a few minutes of discussion on Monday morning, the selection committee made the unanimous decision to appoint Wickham for the supervisor role. Wickham is the director of Start Up Dubuque. That's a non-profit organization that helps small business owners get their new businesses off the ground.

He says he also has a background in software sales at Cartegraph, where he worked with local government bodies to purchase software for cities and counties.

"I have a lot of experience working with local government over the past 25 years. So I am familiar with how government operates and how they function. But this is my first political position," Wickham said.

Wickham’s seat is a temporary position on the board. In November, there will be an election to fill the seat for a full four year term. Wickham says he hasn't yet decided if he'll actually run for the position in November.

During his appointment Monday morning Wickham said he’s to manage the county's money wisely.